Rhiley Allbee

Rhiley’s passion lies in facilitating sustainable and harmonious relationships between people and their environments. She joined the Sustainable Landscapes Unit at GGGI in 2019 in the role of Agroforestry and Investment Research Fellow through the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship. In this role, Rhiley supports projects covering the forest, agriculture, and coastal sectors to refine ecological project goals, identify areas of intervention for increasing investment in ecological services, and to integrate risk reduction measures for agribusiness initiatives.  In addition, Rhiley has supported the development of the 3Returns Framework to aid various teams across the organization in assessing sustainable landscapes.

Prior to GGGI, Rhiley completed a MS at Michigan Technological University in Forest Ecology as a part of the Peace Corps Master’s International program in spring 2019. Her master’s thesis research focused on local perceptions of forest change over a 30-year period in the region of Kaffrine, Sénégal, where she served as an Agroforestry Extension Agent with the United States Peace Corps from 2015-2017. Through this work, Rhiley empowered small-holder farmers by facilitating the implementation of improved practices and techniques related to agroforestry and sustainable agriculture, ultimately leading to increased productivity, yields, and food security. Prior to becoming a Leland Fellow, Rhiley worked for a non-profit organization in Santa Fe, New Mexico that promoted sustainable forest management through ecologically, economically, and socially responsible forestry practices. Her undergraduate degree is in Biology with minors in Sociology and Chemistry from Saginaw Valley State University.